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Original poster

Oxbridge aspirants part 4......Hold onto your nerves interviews ahead....!

940 replies

TangoWhiskyAlphaTango · 30/11/2021 12:17

Part 4 - A friendly supportive thread for those with DC applying to Oxbridge, its an arduous process to say the least. I suspect we will need some handholding and alcohol for the couple of weeks ahead as our dc have their interviews. For those still waiting to hear I hope news comes soon Flowers

OP posts:
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5
ACloseMatch · 06/12/2021 19:50

DD really enjoyed her interviews. The first one was very structured and formal, the second more "relaxed" but I think more focussed on how she thinks and makes connections between concepts and real life. I think she really really wants it now and so am crossing my fingers for her.

Her head of sixth form said not to do any catch up work tonight (she missed a week with Covid) and so I think we are going to have a couple of episodes of West Wing Grin

ealingwestmum · 06/12/2021 20:23

It’s a great attitude Chapter, disappointed for her though, but C’s loss.

mustardpot13 · 06/12/2021 20:59

@chapter- sorry to hear about your daughter. Computer science and maths at Oxford is one of the most competitive courses. They interview far more computer science applicants at Cambridge than at Oxford. Good luck to everyone who has an interview tomorrow/ this week.

kitnkaboodle · 06/12/2021 23:22

@CurlyhairedAssassin glad all went well. DS2 has C Engineering interview on Thurs, and DS1 has O engineering interview on Monday, but not from his first choice college. First choice are also interviewing him but haven't timetabled it yet 🤷‍♀️. DS1 has come a long way to get to this point. It suddenly seems very real. I'm on a knife edge but they both seem chilled, even excited!

Panicmode1 · 07/12/2021 06:33

Thanks for the feedback @curlyhairedassassin, and glad it sounded to have gone well. DS has his engineering interview tomorrow and is really nervous. Corpus only take 4 or 5 engineers as it's a small college so the odds are not in his favour, but at least he is now prepared that there will be no chit chat!

Eightytwenty · 07/12/2021 08:31

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SandyBayley · 07/12/2021 08:37

Top tip from DD, allegedly from an Oxford Admissions person. Don't sit in a swivel chair when being interviewed. Apparently it's really annoying for the interviewer if you swivel nervously when being interviewed!

doubleshotcappuccino · 07/12/2021 08:54

@SandyBayley thanks ! Very good to know !

VikingNorthUtsire · 07/12/2021 08:58

Good luck @eightytwenty jr and all the others with interviews this week.

ealingwestmum · 07/12/2021 09:44

hehe Sandy. DD's habit is jigging one leg furiously, not knowing she doing it. I will warn her.

ofteninaspin · 07/12/2021 11:08

DD (O) got some chit chat intro stuff at her second interview but her first one was straight into subject questions - before she had even sat down. DS (C) said there was a very short preamble before the proper questioning but it was much more of a conveyor belt of interviews as Cambridge interview so many more candidates.

Eightytwenty · 07/12/2021 11:13

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SirVixofVixHall · 07/12/2021 11:56

Phew, dd has her first college interview through, a week after the second one.

pantjog · 07/12/2021 12:31

DD has done all 3 interviews now. Two went quite well, one rather badly. So now the wait begins!

SandyBayley · 07/12/2021 12:33

Good to have it done @pantjog - I guess now the challenge is to completely forget about it and enjoy Christmas. Easier said than done but there is nothing to be gained from dwelling on it.

ealingwestmum · 07/12/2021 13:02

Hope she has some lovely xmas concerts to finish the term with Pantjog, and the one that didn't go as well as she'd have liked is her high bar, and feels less bad in few days.

Stockpot · 07/12/2021 15:50

DD’s interview is tomorrow and she has developed a heavy cold today.

She feels she is a long shot, but she wants to give it her best shot.

I feel sorry for her. I don’t want her to be rejected and feel the outcome may have been different “if only.”

doubleshotcappuccino · 07/12/2021 16:15

Ahh @Stockpot that's hard for her and tough on you to support and know what to say to help .. hope she manages ginger or lemon and rallies for the morning

ealingwestmum · 07/12/2021 16:29

If she’s at home, definitely a lemsip or similar 45 mins before Stockpot. And a good night’s sleep tonight with a good swig of night nurse

ofteninaspin · 07/12/2021 16:36

@Stockpot, your DD can let the admissions team for her college know if she is unwell for her interview.

DD was taken ill on the second night whilst staying in college for her interviews. She emailed admissions for the second college to let them know she was feeling unwell and someone at the college sent a taxi to take her to and from the interview. One of the tutors (he was the senior admissions tutor for her subject at the time) sat her in front of the fire and made her a hot drink because she looked so pale and cold!

Panicmode1 · 07/12/2021 17:14

@stockpot my DS has spent today in bed and is feeling terrible but doesn't want to email or postpone. His first is 10.45 tomorrow and the second one at 1.30 so hoping he's feeling better. Really hope your DD is too..it's hideously stressful enough for them without not feeling on top form 😔

DontKeepTheFaith · 07/12/2021 17:37

Ds2 has had one interview for Human Sciences at Oxford today, another one tomorrow.

He said it was a bit tough toward the end, technical sciences stuff. He’s very bright and I am hoping he did enough.

Ds1 went through it last year and is now doing engineering at St Catherines college, Oxford. The only thing that bothers me is I think the school offered Ds1 much more prep work than DS2 has had. I suspect this may be because DS1’s maths tutor went to Oxford so had an interest whereas DS2 is applying for a completely different subject🤷‍♀️ DS2 has done a lot of work himself and not much I can do, I might have bright kids but I’m not academic at all🤣

I want it so much for DS2 although I know he would thrive anywhere. DS1 is having such an incredible experience and I guess I just want DS2 to have that opportunity as well, seems ridiculous and precious, I know😳

Good luck to everyone else’s DC’s. Not sure about Cambridge but at least the wait isn’t too long for Oxford acceptances or rejections.

Stockpot · 07/12/2021 18:19

Thanks for all the commiserations. She will soldier on with the aid of OTC cold preparations. I wish all the DC well.

TerrifiedandWorried · 07/12/2021 18:36

DD had her interviews today plus language test thingy. She reckons it went really well, the only question she found hard was when she was asked if she would accept an offer for just law if offered. She was asked this at both interviews.

LittleLebowski · 07/12/2021 18:39

Sorry for those feeling below par - they're getting tired now as term is ending and they've had all this extra work and stress.
My DD had her first interview today, it was apparently awful! A very obscure and difficult to interpret text that she couldn't fathom coupled with a dismissive and straightforward "no, that's not it" interviewer. They were obviously keeping the timing super tight so any attempt she made to try to show some area of confidence or interest was shut down curtly. Her overall impression was she looked stupid, couldn't obviously grasp what the interviewer was trying to elicit and wasn't able to show the best of herself.Sad
On the positive side though, she feels tomorrow can't go much worseGrin

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